After the end of the moratorium in August 2025, hunting will be allowed in Albania. The Ministry of Tourism and Environment has prepared a draft law to regulate this activity and to allow it only in certain areas.
After a decade of prohibition, hunting will be allowed in Albania. Instead of extending the moratorium that expires next August, it is proposed to allow the activity in certain areas. The Ministry of Tourism and Environment has submitted the draft law "On hunting" to public consultation.
"Hunting areas can be given to private entities through a competitive procedure and for a term of no less than 10 years, this is because, according to experts in the field of hunting, it takes at least 5 years to prepare the game. The physical or legal entity will be the manager of the area at the same time", declared the Ministry of Tourism and Environment.
Hunters will be initially only Albanian citizens, those who have reached the age of 25, who have licensed weapons and who are equipped with a hunting permit. According to the draft law, the status of the hunting area will be removed for reasons of national security, rural development needs, when there is misuse and when the contract with the tenant is not implemented.
"Actually, the new draft law does not differ much from the previous moratorium initiatives. The report also states that the legal initiative will serve to increase the population of birds and animals. The big problem is that today we do not have any data on how much the moratorium postponed several times affected the improvement of wildlife", said Joni Vorpsi, Center for the Conservation and Protection of the Natural Environment in Albania.
The new legal basis provides that in cases where animals that are not part of the list are hunted in prohibited areas or when a hunting permit is missing, the fines are hefty and range from 500,000 Lek to 1,300,000 Lek. How much impact did these measures have during the moratorium period to curb illegal hunting?
"Almost at all. Illegal hunting continued with poaching methods. Bird mimics were used. There were also hunters from abroad who broke the moratorium," Vorpsi said.
In 2017, the National Hunting Federation proposed that hunting be turned into a licensed sport for a fee, which could bring in up to 12 million euros a year in revenue for the budget. (A2 Televizion)
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